The Maine State Aquarium is excited to share that we are opening this year! We will open Wednesday, June 26 during the Boothbay Harbor Windjammer Days Festival, and then through Labor Day. Our hours are Wednesdays – Sundays, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Follow us on social media or the DMR website for more opening announcements.

Aquarium renovations are ongoing, with tanks under fabrication and new exhibits arriving. For example, the two 1,300-gallon ecosystem tanks have been fabricated especially for the Aquarium, with theming to look like the rocky coast around Boothbay and Burnt Island. Cemrock Landscape, Inc. provides custom fiberglass tank fabrication with naturalistic tank inserts for zoos and aquariums across the country. Aquatic Art Technologies is fabricating tanks that represent the working Boothbay Harbor waterfront. These tanks will highlight the unique and dynamic characteristics of the Gulf of Maine, the ways in which animals and plants interact with each other and their environment. We live in a special place, and we want Aquarium visitors to experience firsthand what makes it so.

New interactive exhibits by Perch Design Studio will highlight the research the Dept. of Marine Resources conducts to protect and manage Gulf of Maine resources for our communities and vital industries. Wright Ryan Construction, Inc. is the general contractor for this project. If you’ve been in the visitor center at the Botanical Gardens, you’ve seen their work. Chris Sullivan Creative Consulting has led our multi-faceted design plan over the past year.

We’re excited to share “o-fish-al” updates with regular columns here and online from now until our June opening!